A youngster from west Port Macquarie can lay claim to being among the most notable of the large number of school holidaymakers at present in Port Macquarie.

He is Peter Young, aged six, a son of Mr and Mrs K.A. Young. Peter has been paralysed in his right arm and leg since birth. It is hard for him to lift his head or to talk, but he managed to do so for the Port News camera. He is a bright, intelligent boy, and eager to learn.

For the last two terms he has been living at the Spastic Centre Hostel for country children in Sydney, and attending their special school. In this time he has made marvellous progress and he now seems certain to lead a full life.

There are many children in NSW with similar handicaps to Peter's and the Spastic Centre needs funds to help more of them. This is the purpose of the Miss Australia Quest and Port Macquarie's entrants will be collecting on the Sesqui-Centenary Bridge on Saturday.

Lifejackets washed up

Four life-jackets, positively identified as having come from the ill-fated Noongah, were washed up at Port Macquarie on Tuesday. One at Shelley Beach, one at Flynns Beach, one at Miners and the fourth at Lake Cathie. All four were tied and appeared to have been worn.

They were equipped with whistles and one had a battery operated flashing light attached. The search resumed at daylight yesterday with searchers combing the beaches while the planes, helicopters and ships swept the sea.

It was reported on Tuesday that one search plane had sighted what appeared to be a body, off Port Macquarie. However, when the plane circled back nothing was visible.

Editorial: Lake Innes - something out of the ordinary

Whatever the outcome of today's meeting of Hastings Shire representatives with the director of National Parks and Wildlife, Lake Innes is certain to become, in future years, a far more notable feature of this district, far removed from the nuisance value it enjoys today.

If there is any humour left in present-time squabblers, some amusement should arise from the fact the cutting of the drain in 1933, a bone of contention today, was perpetrated by people of the municipality and carried out by them in shire territory.

Be that as it may, the result has been that the thousands of acres of farm lands envisaged when the drain was cut just haven't materialised. Repeated closure of the outlet to the sea at Lake Cathie has annulled the effect which the cutting of the drain was expected to have.

What was achieved was salt water was let into a freshwater lake, destroying it to a large extent. The resulting prawns have been a tremendous local asset, but their presence, and the activities of professional fishermen have led to bitterness between them, amateur fishermen, and promoters of tourism.

Today's talks with Dr. McMichael can only be a beginning - there's much to be done round the table to sift out all the rights and wrongs before a new future for the lake is decided.